The present invention relates, generally, to a security device and, more specifically, to such a device used to securely hold a door or other type of closure in a slightly open or semi-open position to allow limited access through the doorway but at the same time deny human access therethrough.
The present invention finds particular application in the field of commercial maintenance on buildings and other structures where a closure, such as door, must be held slightly ajar to allow access for equipment. However, from the description that follows, those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention is in no way limited to such activities and that the present invention may find use for a number of purposes which are now anticipated as well as those that may become apparent in the future.
Thus, by way of example, and not as an exhaustive recitation of its uses, maintenance companies employed, for example to clean carpets and preform other, similar tasks have a particular need for the present invention. Such business entities usually have trucks or vans on which certain equipment is non-removably mounted. Hoses, electrical cords, etc. extend from the truck through an opening in a building, such as a doorway, which is obviously ajar during this process. Accordingly, the building is also unlocked and often unattended.
Carpet cleaning and other maintenance tasks are often performed after regular working hours or on the weekend. Unfortunately, this can result in very unsafe situations. More specifically, this environment presents the opportunity for unauthorized access to the building by unwanted persons, theft and possibly harm to the maintenance and carpet cleaning personnel through the ajar, unattended doorway. This disadvantage limits the effective use of such services in areas of high crime, for banks and other business where cash or other retail goods may be quickly stolen.
Security devices which prevent a door from being fully opened so as to prevent human access into a building are generally disclosed in the related art. However, such devices merely act as barriers for human entry through the opening. Further, the door or other closure device, is normally kept completely shut using the security devices of the related art and are not employed for maintaining the closure in an ajar or semi-open position. Furthermore, the security devices known in the related art are generally not portable and therefore usually require that some part of the device be permanently mounted to some unmoveable structure associated with or adjacent to the opening. Thus, the security devices known in the related art are not suitable for use as portable devices which maintain a closure in a fixed, semi-open or ajar position to allow access through the opening by equipment but which denies human access.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a security device which can effectively lock an opening, such as a door or window, in a semi-open or ajar disposition to allow the passage of hoses, electrical cords and other equipment or the like but which otherwise bars entry to the building.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages in the related art in an open door security device having a first member removably mountable to a structure associated with an opening to an enclosure and a second member removably mountable to a different structure associated with the opening to an enclosure. The security device also includes a spacer extending between the first and second members. The security device acts to fix the structures associated with the opening in a predetermined, spaced position with respect to one another such that the opening is semi-open to allow access into the enclosure for equipment but which prevents a person from gaining entrance to the enclosure through the opening. In this way, the security device of the present invention allows access past the closure for equipment but does not provide a big enough opening to allow human access through the closure.
More specifically, the security device of the present invention securely holds the door in an ajar or semi-open position which allows access for hoses, electrical cords or other equipment and the like but which does not provide a big enough opening to allow human access. In this way, the maintenance personnel as well as others may go about their business in the building without fear of unauthorized access through the ajar door. The security device is portable. It may be used on a number of buildings and in connection with various types of openings such as doorways, windows or other entrance paths into an enclosure and need not become a fixture of any particular building. In the event of unauthorized tampering, the security device of the present invention may also include audible alert devices which activate to alert authorized personnel of such activity.